David Anderman, general counsel, head of business affairs, Lucasfilm

Dealmakers Impact Report 2012: Corporate Strategists

Inhouse attorney Anderman does highly varied deal work such as contracts for “Star Wars” licensed merchandise, movie production and visual effects. His biggest deal ever came in October with the announced sale of Lucasfilm to Disney for $4.05 billion. In addition to these tasks, George Lucas “loves to build buildings and that makes me a real property lawyer, in addition to an intellectual property lawyer,” Anderman says. Each year, Lucasfilm contracts with hundreds of companies that produce thousands of products, including such exotic items such as Star Wars Lightsaber Chopsticks. Joining Lucasfilm in 1998 was a dream job for Anderman, who says he saw the original “Star Wars” 17 times in theaters as a youth in suburban New York. There were no regrets in working on the sale to Disney because “We knew what we were doing was very important to George, the ‘Star Wars’ community and the whole company.”